Along with rising crime, security systems in which security measures are automated by providing security sensors and the like in houses and buildings have become widely used. Wide variety of security systems have already been in practical use, e.g. ranging from a large-scale system in which a security center receives a security alert from a sensor via a computer network upon the detection of an intruder and the like by the sensor, so that a security guard is sent to the scene, to a simple system in which information detected by a sensor is sent to a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone of the user. Also, sensors that detect the existence of a human body, the breakdown of glass, fire, and gas leakage have been in practical use, thanks to sensing media that detect light, sound (including supersonic wave and acoustic pressure), electric waves (especially microwave), images, and others.
Prior art documents related to the present invention are the following Patent Documents 1-3.
Patent Document 1 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 8-16963/1996; published on Jan. 19, 1996) discloses an alarm device which prevents the user from making an operation mistake and prevents a security alert from being mistakenly dispatched. More specifically, this alarm device is arranged such that a plurality of intrusion sensors are provided in a monitored area and an alert is automatically sent to a remote security center if an intrusion to the monitored area or an act of vandalism in the monitored area is detected by one of the intrusion sensors, and the alarm device includes: a controller provided in the monitored area; a mode setting device provided outside the monitored area; timer means that starts clocking in response to the operation of the controller, and stops the clocking after a predetermined period of time elapses; and control means. The control means sets the controller to an alert mode if the mode setting device is operated during the clocking of the timer means. If the mode setting device is operated after the clocking finishes, the control device does not set any security modes.
According to a portable remote moving picture transmission system of Patent Document 2 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2001-333216; published on Nov. 30, 2001), a photograph of an intruder is automatically sent to a next-generation mobile phone, rather than an alert is sent to a security company, so that the user can swiftly identify the intruder and contact the police, and as a result the payment to the security company can be reduced. More specifically, according to this portable remote moving picture transmission system, when an alert state is set by a key switch, the illegal intruder is sensed by a miniaturized human sensing light and a connected automatic reporting device is started. The automatic reporting device continuously starts connecting plural reporting destinations predetermined to the next generation portable telephone. By setting the next generation portable telephone of a party to automatic incoming call, when there is a report, an image automatically appears. Thus, the person concerned, who receives the image, can instantaneously judge conditions from the image and can report the movement of the illegal intruder or features of the face to the police as they are. When an erroneous report can be judged from the image such as when a member of company enters the room while forgetting the cancel of the key switch, for example, such a state can be judged by the image so that the report to the police is not required.
Patent Document 3 (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2001-288939; published on Oct. 19, 2001) discloses a locking confirmation supporting apparatus which alleviates a fear of the user regarding locking, and is easy to use, inexpensive, and highly versatile. More specifically, the locking confirmation supporting apparatus is comprised of a key holder section for holding a key, and an electronic clock section consisting of a timer circuit, a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and a display. Then, a locking confirmation signal is generated, and a current time point of locking is stored as a confirmation time point into the RAM of the electronic clock section, based on the locking confirmation signal, and a notice is sent to a liquid crystal display. The locking confirmation signal is generated by a key taking/ejecting means inclusive of a key taking/ejection-detecting switch provided in the key holder section, locking sound detecting means inclusive of a locking sound sensor such as a microphone, a manual input switch, etc. After locking, by operating a reconfirmation switch, the confirmation time point stored in the RAM is displayed again on the liquid crystal display.
However, in spite of remarkable development of devices and systems, human errors made by the users of buildings and houses invalidate such devices and systems and bring about absence of security measures, thereby causing a lot of troubles.
A representative example of the human errors is such that the user forgets to set an “alert mode”. That is, security systems are typically arranged in such a manner that the user sets the security mode when he/she leaves home and wishes to let the house be watched, and releases the security mode upon the return to the house. In this case, the security system does not turn on if the user forgets to set the security mode or does not set the mode for some reason, so that the security measures do not operate.
There have been no proposals to provide measurements for spotting such human errors, because it has been difficult to accurately spot the errors with low costs.
As described above, conventional security systems cannot, for instance, gives advise, alarm, or the like to set the security mode to the user, in order to prevent a human error by the user of buildings, houses, and the like. In other words, the conventional systems cannot cover for human errors without imposing a burden on the user.